At Collyland between Alva and Sauchie is a roundabout, but in 1930 it was a crossroads. It was here a tragic accident occurred.

Shortly after 5 o’clock on Thursday, August 21, 1930, carter John Peggie was making his way home from his work in Sauchie to Queen Street in Alva on his bicycle when he reached the crossroads at Collyland. Here he was struck by a truck being driven by John Keddie, a motor contractor from Loanhead near Dollar, and knocked down.

He received serious injuries to his head and body and was rushed to Stirling Royal Infirmary but succumbed to his injuries at 8.30 that evening.

Two days later on Saturday, August 23, the 59-year-old’s funeral was held and he was buried in Alva cemetery.

As a result of the incident, Mary Peggie, John’s wife, brought a case against Keddie on behalf of two of her children, John and Catherine, which was heard at the Court of Session in Edinburgh on Thursday, December 3, 1931.

She was seeking damages of £100 and £500 respectively for the death of their father at the hands of the contactor. Two of the couple’s other children, Helen and James, had been party to the action but, unlike their mother, had settled out of court before the case was heard before judge John Pitman, Lord Pitman.

Mrs Peggie was represented in court by Arthur Duffes, K.C. and John Cameron, while Keddie was defended by J L Wark, K.C. and J R Wardlaw Burnett.

The prosecution claimed Keddie was in a hurry to get a marketplace in Stirling before it closed for the day and had failed to apply the brakes of his truck enough to avoid the collision. The belief was he was too distracted to react quickly enough.

Keddie denied this was what happened. Instead, he stated he had applied the brakes and did all that was expected of him while driving the truck. He claimed the brakes worked as they should have, but that it was the brakes of Peggie’s bicycle that were faulty and this either wholly or at least partly contributed to the incident. He claimed Peggie was unable to control the bicycle on the hill and that Peggie himself was at least in part to blame for his own death.

The jury unanimously found in favour of the pursuers as they did not believe Keddie’s version of the events. They awarded John £15 and his sister Catherine £175 in damages.